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The Exclusion of Gay Men from Universal Male Conscription in the Republic of Turkey Barrett Greenwell Western Kentucky University, [email protected]

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The Exclusion of Gay Men from Universal Male Conscription in the Republic of Turkey Barrett Greenwell Western Kentucky University, Barrett.Greenwell622@Topper.Wku.Edu Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Honors College at WKU Projects 8-15-2016 Do Ask, Do Tell: The Exclusion of Gay Men from Universal Male Conscription in the Republic of Turkey Barrett Greenwell Western Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses Part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons Recommended Citation Greenwell, Barrett, "Do Ask, Do Tell: The Exclusion of Gay Men from Universal Male Conscription in the Republic of Turkey" (2016). Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 615. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/615 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College Capstone Experience/ Thesis Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DO ASK, DO TELL: THE EXCLUSION OF GAY MEN FROM UNIVERSAL MALE CONSCRIPTION IN THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY A Capstone Experience/Thesis Project Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Arts with Honors College Graduate Distinction at Western Kentucky University By Barrett J. Greenwell ***** Western Kentucky University 2016 CE/T Committee: Professor Patricia Minter, Advisor Approved by Professor Roger Murphy ________________________ Professor Judy Rohrer Advisor Department of History Copyright by Barrett J. Greenwell 2016 ABSTRACT What are the implications of the Republic of Turkey’s paradoxical policies of universal male conscription and exclusion of gay men from military service? To answer this question, this project draws on four months of research in Turkey where interviews were conducted with prominent lawyers and activists as well as with gay men who personally experienced the inhumane exemption process of the Turkish military. This project first analyzes the historical reasons for the military’s pervasive influence in Turkish society. Next, it explores the many issues inherent in a policy of universal conscription without the right to conscientious objection. The project then focuses on the methods utilized from 1986 to the present to “prove” the sexuality of men in Turkey. These methods are based in Victorian pseudoscience, including invasive anal examinations, video or photographic evidence of sexual acts, video or photographic evidence of cross-dressing, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the House-Tree-Person Test, and mandatory family interviews. Each method is based on outdated gender roles, violates basic human rights, and wholly lacks validity in the capacity to determine sexual orientation. These exemption methods, along with the classification of gay men as psychologically ill, demonstrate the Turkish military’s repeated adherence to scientific practices discredited by the modern medical and psychological community. Keywords: LGBTQ, Human Rights, Turkey, Military, Universal Male Conscription. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank my friends and family members who supported my research endeavors. I want to give special thanks to David Sams who encouraged me to go to Turkey when many others did not. I want to thank my advisors Dr. Patricia Minter and Dr. Roger Murphy. As my primary advisor, Dr. Minter has provided phenomenal advice that has vastly improved this work and shaped my understanding of human rights. Her guidance has proved invaluable in my academic, professional, and personal life. I want to thank Demet Osmançelebioğlu, Ece Söğütçü, Fikret Erkut Emcioglu, and Özgür Burak Gürsoy who provided Turkish to English translations during several interviews. I want to thank Karoline Scherb who provided a German to English translation of a secondary source and once again Fikret Erkut Emcioglu who translated a primary source from Turkish to English and who offered guidance throughout several interviews. I want to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Office of Research in the form of an International Faculty-Undergraduate Student Engagement Grant and the Office of Scholar Development in the form of a Lifetime Experience Grant. The Honors College has also supported my thesis throughout the research and writing process. Finally, I want to give special thanks to the brave Turkish men and women who shared their experiences with me even when such memories were painful to recall. iii VITA January 22, 1994…………………………………………....Born in Bardstown, Kentucky May 2012………………………………....Bethlehem High School, Bardstown, Kentucky Fall 2013…………………………….Study Abroad: Harlaxton College, United Kingdom Spring 2015…………………………………..Study Abroad: Yeditepe University, Turkey Winter 2016………………………………………………………...Study Abroad: Taiwan FIELDS OF STUDY Major Fields: Political Science, International Affairs Minor Fields: Economics, Criminology iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………iii Vita………………………………………………………………………………………..iv List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………….vi List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………….vii Chapters: 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………1 2. From Ataturk to Erdoğan: The Historical Growth of Military Influence in Modern Turkish Society……………………………………………………………………..5 3. The Root of the Military Problem: Universal Male Conscription without Conscientious Objection…………………………………………………………..11 4. Turkey in 2015: Understanding the Plight of LGBTQ Individuals in Turkey……22 5. The Pink Certificate……………………………………………………………….28 6. The Military Exemption Process both Past and Present: An Account of Pseudoscience and Torture………………………………………………………..32 7. Discretion, Privacy, and Repercussions…………………………………………...60 8. Counterarguments………………………………………………………………....67 9. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...71 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………..81 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1: Page 1 of EO’s Pink Certificate……………………………………………………….76 2: Page 2 of EO’s Pink Certificate……………………………………………………….77 3: Page 3 of EO’s Pink Certificate……………………………………………………….78 4: Page 4 of EO’s Pink Certificate……………………………………………………….79 5: HTP Drawing………………………………………………………………………….80 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A-GATA Ankara Gülhane Military Medical Academy DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DADT Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell HTP House-Tree-Person Test I-GATA Istanbul Gülhane Military Medical Academy AKP Justice and Development Party LGBTQ Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer MF Masculinity-femininity MMPI Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization HDP People’s Democratic Party CHP Republican People’s Party UN United Nations vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In an Istanbul Starbucks on February 13, 2015, few people took notice of three men discreetly sitting at a corner table sipping their hot coffee. The customers quickly ordered their lattes and then dispersed throughout the world’s fifth largest city, which serves as a shining example of Turkey’s development and modernity. The Starbucks logo invoking the epitome of Western capitalist sentiment paired with the Islamic call to prayer provided a backdrop for this scene in iconic “east meets west” Istanbul. The three men, however, were there to discuss the ways in which Turkey still lags far behind other modern societies. The first man, EO, who wishes to remain anonymous for his safety, discussed his harrowing experiences with the Turkish military. The second man translated from Turkish to English while the third man quickly scribbled down notes so that he could later recount EO’s story. EO, now 29, was only 21 when he went through the exemption process that all gay men in Turkey must undergo in some form before their exclusion from the Turkish military is complete. His exemption took place over the course of three weeks in 2007—a life-changing experience that would ultimately leave his body emaciated and his skin an unnatural yellow tint. For EO, the deepest fear of many gay men passing through this exemption process was realized: a copy of his infamous “pink certificate” ended up at the 1 home of his parents. This document officially denotes EO as unfit for military service on the grounds of his homosexuality. Luckily for EO, his illiterate mother received the forms. This turn of events was quite fortunate because, as EO casually noted, in his native region the punishment for homosexuality is often death. He explained the personal details of his story with the laugh and smile of one for whom the looming threat of death at the hands of his loved ones is an established and accepted reality.1 While unique since he chose to seek exemption from the military after having already enlisted, his classification as mentally ill and his evocative exemption story of forced imprisonment, prying questions, invasion of privacy, and bureaucratic obstacles is illustrative of the numerous abuses that gay men are forced to endure at the hands of the Turkish military. His account is not an archaic story of some past abuse; rather, it is the reality faced by homosexuals in modern Turkey. The overt discrimination and mistreatment of gay men by the military is a feature of Turkish society that persists not just a hundred years ago, not a decade ago, but today. In Turkish civil and political society, the military wields vast influence in no small part because of a strict policy of universal male conscription as established under the Constitution of 1982. This policy ensures
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